BEWARE THE DUCHESSI
INDIRA VARMA GOES BIG AS SHE RETURNS TO SCI-FI
“Awright duchess, how’s it going?”
How has your Doctor Who experience been so far?
Oh, it’s been such a laugh. I’ve wanted to do Doctor Who for ages. Not particularly because I was a massive fan as a kid. I was too scared of the Daleks, the usual kind of thing. But because so many friends have been in it and have said how much fun they’ve had. Because it feels like it’s carte blanche to do whatever you want and it’s so imaginative.
It’s really fun to be part of Doctor Who also because I was working with David Tennant on The Quatermass Experiment when he found out he was going to be Doctor Who, then I was working with Matt Smith when he was going to be Doctor Who, and I’m like, surely it’s my turn. I don’t get to be Doctor Who but I get to play a character who aspires to be Doctor Who…
What can you tell us about The Duchess?
She’s a party animal. She is the Duchess of Pemberton and she is more than what she seems – or rather she becomes something else… I think the Duchess of Pemberton wants life to just be a game. I’m trying to be enigmatic!
She’s great fun. As the Duchess of Pemberton, it’s her party, it’s her ball. She’s thrilled with the newcomers who she doesn’t know, and immediately she sees Millie and she wants to match her up with someone. It’s all very sort of Bridgerton. It’s very sort of… camp. Which is really [screams] FUN! It’s so fun to be extra. I’ve always wanted to be in this era because I’m from Bath. I’ve been gutted that I’ve not been in any of the Jane Austens. So I get to do my Jane Austen villainess.